Blame It All on Me. Part 2

Chapter 1. What Is This Fate?

Arina opened her eyes and gasped for air, like a freediver breaking the surface. At first she thought she had lost her sight, but gradually the darkness receded, revealing the outlines of the ceiling. However, the room remained shrouded in enough darkness; it was night time, though fairly illuminated by the moon.

She tried to shake off the strange stiffness that hindered her movement. Just like her vision, control over her body didn't return immediately.

Now that was some dream!.. She must have slept for a long time and very tight, judging how numb her body was... But that dream... Ninjas, jutsu, soul exchange... It all felt so realistic. Maxim will surely be amused when she tells him about it – omitting some of the details, naturally. It's not often that she managed to remember a dream so thoroughly – she could literally write it down.

Arina reached out her right hand, trying to find her phone to check the time. However, she couldn't locate her phone, and suddenly she realized with absolute clarity that none of this had been a dream. Then she caught a faint, almost forgotten, yet painfully familiar scent and realized that she wasn't even in her hotel room.

Already suspecting where she was and what would follow, she slowly turned her head to the right. Seeing a slightly shabby wall, she hesitantly, as if struggling with herself, looked to the left.

And there he was. Kakashi was sitting nearby, evidently waiting for her to wake up and look at him. Like a wolf in ambush...

Arina's eyes widened involuntarily, and her cheeks instantly flushed with an unsettling sense of foreboding. Though she couldn't quite understand why, the silver-haired man seemed to almost palpably radiate indignation. This was confirmed by the Sharingan flickering dimly in the semi-darkness – he didn't even bother to keep it shut.

Arina jolted up and lunged forward, intending to jump off the bed. But with a stifled shriek, she was swiftly sent back into the lying position.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kakashi spoke sternly, looming over her.

"What... what do you want from me?" Arina stammered in a voice that barely obeyed her, utterly terrified. Had he kidnapped her? Drugged her?

"And you have nothing else to say?" Kakashi pierced her with his gaze. "For instance: 'Thank you for not letting me commit a terribly foolish act'?"

Arina was startled. That's right. She jumped off the cliff... But how did he manage to save her?

"Were you spying on me?" she blurted out that ridiculous phrase after all.

Kakashi sighed, instantly losing his intimidating demeanour.

"No, I... Ah, never mind... Shit... I'm furious, but..." Kakashi leaned in and scooped the girl in his arms, pressing her so hard against the bed that she gasped. "How could you?.." he whispered with agony, burying his face in her hair. "We've been through this before..."

Tears welled up in Arina's eyes – not out of sentimentality, but because he had stopped her from carrying out her plan. She wasn't sure at all if she had the resolve to do it once more.

"At least back then, there was some hope... And now it's gone. Why... why did you do this? Who asked you? What... business is it... of yours?" She struggled furiously underneath him, trying to push him away and free herself.

Kakashi released her, but only enough to make a slight distance, so he could look into her eyes. His gaze was almost shooting lightning bolts again.

"What business it is of mine?" he nearly growled. "Tell me, do you really still not get it? Or are you just messing with me?"